the law |
animals or babies? |
ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS |
| click on image for more information |
safety testing |
alternatives to animal experiments? |
recommended reading and book reviews |
news |
statistics |
recommended websites |
index |
| Prof G Zbinden of the Institute of Toxicology, Zurich, Switzerland, stated in 1966: "Most adverse reactions which occur in [hu]man[s] cannot be demonstrated, anticipated, or avoided by the routine sub-acute and chronic toxicity experiment [in animals]" (`Applied Therapeutics`. vol 8. 1966) |
| The `Journal of the American Medical Association` [JAMA] reported in May 1998 that 51% of approved drugs have serious adverse effects not detected prior to approval (ie after animal experiments) and that each year prescription drugs injure 1.5 million people so severely that they require hospitalization and 100,000 people die from adverse drug reactions. JAMA reported in April 1998 that an analysis of 39 studies of ADRs in America showed that an estimated 2,216,000 hopsital patients wer ther because of ADRs and that ADRs contributed to 106,000 deaths in the US = 4.6% of all cases of death recorded in America. ADRs had become the 4th leading cause of death in the US - after heart disease, cancer, and strokes. JAMA commented "actual incidence of ADRs has not chnaged over the last 32 years" Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, in the `Lords Hansard` of 2 Dec 1998, reported that a study of November 1998 had found adverse drug reactions to be third in the list of causes of death in the UK - after heart attacks and strokes. Earl Baldwin posed the point "consider the savings to made in hard-pressed NHS budgets in not having to deal withthe aftermath of treatment". |
| ANTI-ARTHRITIS DRUGS phenylvutazone - 910 ADRs, 397 deaths meclofenamic acid - 193 ADRs, 22 deaths indomethacin - 550 ADRs, 174 deaths oxyphenbutazone - 254 ADRs, 119 deaths ibuprofen - 381 ADRs, 44 deaths alcofenac - 17 ADRs, 2 deaths naprofen - 474 ADRs, 61 deaths ketaprofen - 267 ADRs, 20 deaths fenoprofen - 138 ADRs, 20 deaths azapropazone - 214 ADRs, 25 deaths sulindac - 99 ADRs, 9 deaths flurbiprofen- 183 ADRs, 20 deaths feprazone - 84 ADRs, 5 deaths diflunisal - 171 ADRs, 4 deaths fenclofenac - 84 ADRs, 9 deaths diclofenac - 225 ADRs, 19 deaths fenbufen - 146 ADRs, 11 deaths piroxicam - 762 ADRs, 74 deaths benaxoprofen - 332 ADRs, 77 deaths zomepirac - 88 ADRs, 7 deaths tiaprofenic acid - 61 ADRs, 6 deaths indoprofen - 50 ADRs, 7 deaths Osmosin - 178 ADRs, 26 deaths suprofen - 10 ADRs, 1 death |
| GENERAL ANAESTHETICS alphaxalone - 469 ADRs, 20 deaths etomidate - 62 ADRs, 3 deaths halothane - 439 ADRs, 180 deaths ketamine - 56 ADRs, 1 death methohexitone - 88 ADRs, 5 deaths thiopentone - 110 ADRs, 27 deaths LOCAL ANAESTHETICS bupivacaine - 68 ADRs, 10 deaths lignocaine - 329 ADRs, 9 deaths amethocaine - 20 ADRs cinchocaine - 14 ADRs mepivacaine - 27 ADRs oxethazine - 15 ADRs prilocaine - 88 ADRs MUSCLE RELAXANTS alcuronium - 61 ADRs, 2 deaths atracurium - 72 ADRs, 1 death gallamine - 8 ADRs, 1 death suxamethonium - 63 ADRs, 17 deaths |
| ANTI-DEPRESSANTS fluvoxamine - 626 ADRs, 92 deaths mianserine - 12 deaths |
| ANTI-ASTHMA DRUGS isoprenaline - 3,000 deaths salbutamol - 9 deaths |
medical research |
![]() |